Sony wants to jump start 4K with a $700 media player and video service

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If you’ve been holding off on making any investments in home theater hardware until 4K video is available for a somewhat attainable price, Sony has some good news for you today. The company’s FMP-X1 4K media player will become available this summer for $700. The video player will initially include access to ten 4K films and shorts then, this fall, Sony will offer a video distribution service that will have 4K content and be compatible with the FMP-X1.

Before you get too excited about the 10 bundled movies, here is the list:

Bad Teacher

Battle: Los Angeles

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The Karate Kid (2010)

Salt

Taxi Driver

That’s My Boy

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Other Guys

Total Recall (2012)

It’s not a terrible lineup, but probably not the only ten movies that you’d want your 4K viewing restricted to (especially after paying $700 for a media player and somewhere north of $5000 for a 4K television). Also, it’s worth noting that some of these likely won’t be actual 4K movies — they will be “sourced from 4K” and presented in 1080p as part of Sony’s “Mastered in 4K” program.

As for the FMP-X1, it’s a black hockey puck-like device that we first saw at CES 2013 earlier this year. Nothing solid seems to be known about the device’s specifications so far, though we can expect the normal complement of HDMI and optical audio connections. The media player, we’ve heard, is basically a massive hard drive which can house the 4K content as well as receive data from Sony’s video service once it is operational. It likely won’t be too different from an expensive, high-powered Roku.

If you pick up the FMP-X1 you’ll need a 4K TV to go with it and Sony is fully prepared to sell you one. The 55-inch XBR-55X900A and 65-inch XBR-65X900A will become available on April 21st and will sell for $5000 and $7000, respectively. That’s a small fortunate to pay for making the jump from 1080p to 4K, but if you’re a home theater buff who has been watching HD video for 5+ years now, you might be more than happy to forget about 3D and confirm that the future of video is 4K (or Ultra HD, or 2160p, something like that).